The Meizu M9 (pronounced MAY-zoo M9) is a Chinese
smartphone
A smartphone is a portable computer device that combines mobile telephone and computing functions into one unit. They are distinguished from feature phones by their stronger hardware capabilities and extensive mobile operating systems, whic ...
designed and promoted by the
Meizu Technology Co., Ltd. which runs on
Flyme OS
Meizu Technology Co., Ltd. () is a Chinese consumer electronics manufacturer based in Zhuhai, Guangdong. Founded in 2003 by Jack Wong, Meizu began as a manufacturer of MP3 players and later MP4 players. In 2008, Meizu moved its focus to smar ...
. It was launched on January 1, 2011, resulting in buyers lining up overnight to enter the stores to purchase the device.
History
Jack Wong
Jack Wong, or Huang Zhang (), is a Chinese billionaire entrepreneur. He is the founder and chairman of Meizu, a Chinese consumer electronics company.
Early life
Jack Wong was born on February 13, 1976 in Meixian, Meizhou, Guangdong.
At the ...
, at that time the CEO of
Meizu
Meizu Technology Co., Ltd. () is a Chinese consumer electronics manufacturer based in Zhuhai, Guangdong. Founded in 2003 by Jack Wong, Meizu began as a manufacturer of MP3 players and later MP4 players. In 2008, Meizu moved its focus to smart ...
, announced that the Meizu M9 would be released in late 2010. Only 300 copies of the phone were released on the first day of the phone's launch. It was only available in December 2010 if it was pre-ordered in October. The price of the Meizu M9 was set for 2380
Yuan (350 dollars). The phone was originally slated for release in early November. Because of several delays, the phone's release date was delayed to late December. One of the delays in the release of the phone was the company's decision to brand the phone with an ancient Chinese character for a logo. Another delay was caused by the validation process of the phone by the China Academy of Telecommunication Research. The validation process took two months. Another delay was caused by the arrival of the
IPhone 4
The iPhone 4 is a smartphone that was designed and marketed by Apple Inc. It is the fourth generation of the iPhone lineup, succeeding the iPhone 3GS and preceding the 4S. Following a number of notable leaks, the iPhone 4 was first unvei ...
to China. Because Meizu Technology Co., ltd wanted to compete with
Apple
An apple is an edible fruit produced by an apple tree (''Malus domestica''). Apple fruit tree, trees are agriculture, cultivated worldwide and are the most widely grown species in the genus ''Malus''. The tree originated in Central Asia, wh ...
, the company had to use the same retina screen as the
iPhone 4
The iPhone 4 is a smartphone that was designed and marketed by Apple Inc. It is the fourth generation of the iPhone lineup, succeeding the iPhone 3GS and preceding the 4S. Following a number of notable leaks, the iPhone 4 was first unvei ...
.
Specifications
Internal hardware
The Meizu M9 features "
Hummingbird
Hummingbirds are birds native to the Americas and comprise the biological family Trochilidae. With about 361 species and 113 genera, they occur from Alaska to Tierra del Fuego, but the vast majority of the species are found in the tropics aro ...
" (S5PC110)
SoC with 1 GHz
ARM
In human anatomy, the arm refers to the upper limb in common usage, although academically the term specifically means the upper arm between the glenohumeral joint (shoulder joint) and the elbow joint. The distal part of the upper limb between th ...
Cortex-A8
The ARM Cortex-A8 is a 32-bit processor core licensed by ARM Holdings implementing the ARMv7-A architecture.
Compared to the ARM11, the Cortex-A8 is a dual-issue superscalar design, achieving roughly twice the instructions per cycle. The Cort ...
CPU and
PowerVR 540
GPU
A graphics processing unit (GPU) is a specialized electronic circuit designed to manipulate and alter memory to accelerate the creation of images in a frame buffer intended for output to a display device. GPUs are used in embedded systems, mobi ...
along with 512
MB RAM
Ram, ram, or RAM may refer to:
Animals
* A male sheep
* Ram cichlid, a freshwater tropical fish
People
* Ram (given name)
* Ram (surname)
* Ram (director) (Ramsubramaniam), an Indian Tamil film director
* RAM (musician) (born 1974), Dutch
* ...
, 8–16
GB internal
flash memory
Flash memory is an electronic non-volatile computer memory storage medium that can be electrically erased and reprogrammed. The two main types of flash memory, NOR flash and NAND flash, are named for the NOR and NAND logic gates. Both us ...
, a 5-megapixel rear-facing camera and a 3.54-inch capacitive touchscreen display with 640x960 pixels resolution. The display resolution surpasses the resolution of previous Meizu M-series smartphones. The phone also has
Bluetooth
Bluetooth is a short-range wireless technology standard that is used for exchanging data between fixed and mobile devices over short distances and building personal area networks (PANs). In the most widely used mode, transmission power is limi ...
,
Wi-Fi
Wi-Fi () is a family of wireless network protocols, based on the IEEE 802.11 family of standards, which are commonly used for local area networking of devices and Internet access, allowing nearby digital devices to exchange data by radio wave ...
, and TV-out (HDMI 1.3) connectivity options. The
Samsung
The Samsung Group (or simply Samsung) ( ko, 삼성 ) is a South Korean multinational manufacturing conglomerate headquartered in Samsung Town, Seoul, South Korea. It comprises numerous affiliated businesses, most of them united under the ...
S5PC110 SoC enables the Meizu M9 to play
Full HD
1080p (1920×1080 progressively displayed pixels; also known as Full HD or FHD, and BT.709) is a set of HDTV high-definition video modes characterized by 1,920 pixels displayed across the screen horizontally and 1,080 pixels down the screen verti ...
video.
The Meizu M9 is similar to the iPhone 4 in a number of ways. They both have similar CPUs which are ARM Cortex A8-based; however, the Meizu M9 has the Samsung S5PC1110 SoC while the iPhone 4 has the Apple A4 SoC. Even the clock speed and phone internals are similar between the Meizu M9 and the Apple
iPhone 4
The iPhone 4 is a smartphone that was designed and marketed by Apple Inc. It is the fourth generation of the iPhone lineup, succeeding the iPhone 3GS and preceding the 4S. Following a number of notable leaks, the iPhone 4 was first unvei ...
.
Display
The Meizu M9 uses a 3.54 inch
Sharp
Sharp or SHARP may refer to:
Acronyms
* SHARP (helmet ratings) (Safety Helmet Assessment and Rating Programme), a British motorcycle helmet safety rating scheme
* Self Help Addiction Recovery Program, a charitable organisation founded in 19 ...
AVS display with a 640x960 pixels resolution. This offers a
pixel density of 326 ppi, a substantial improvement over most Android phones and a pixel density identical to that of the Apple
iPhone 4
The iPhone 4 is a smartphone that was designed and marketed by Apple Inc. It is the fourth generation of the iPhone lineup, succeeding the iPhone 3GS and preceding the 4S. Following a number of notable leaks, the iPhone 4 was first unvei ...
. Because of the improved pixel density, text in zoomed-out views of the web browser or other applications can be read, and graphics such as those of games appear sharper.
Android operating system and Meizu software
The Meizu M9 runs on
Android 2.2, with an upgrade to 2.3 afterwards. With
Android 2.2, there is some lag but that is fixed with the new
2.3 update with performance updates. The interface is designed by Eico. Eico is a Chinese design firm that has a good reputation because of its good work with
Google
Google LLC () is an American multinational technology company focusing on search engine technology, online advertising, cloud computing, computer software, quantum computing, e-commerce, artificial intelligence, and consumer electronics. ...
,
ASUS and
Creative. Eico have designed a unique user interface for the Meizu M9. A lot of people that have
HTC
HTC Corporation ( zh, t=宏達國際電子股份有限公司, s=宏达国际电子股份有限公司, p=Hóngdá Guójì Diànzǐ Gǔfèn Yǒuxiàn Gōngsī, first=t) or High Tech Computer Corporation, (literally ''Hongda International Electron ...
cell phones have started importing the Meizu M9 interface into their cell phones because of its layout. The Meizu also has its own apps that have been designed by Eic which are designed to work well with the interface. There is also an English version of the phone's software.
The
Flyme OS
Meizu Technology Co., Ltd. () is a Chinese consumer electronics manufacturer based in Zhuhai, Guangdong. Founded in 2003 by Jack Wong, Meizu began as a manufacturer of MP3 players and later MP4 players. In 2008, Meizu moved its focus to smar ...
from the new MX device was backported to M9 with a few features disabled; bringing
Android 4.0 support, increased performance and a new UI.
Usability
Meizu M9 has three physical buttons below the screen. The middle button is the “HOME” button; the “BACK” button is on the left and the “KEY” button on the right. On the top of the phone is the “LOCK SCREEN” key and on the left side is the “VOLUME” key. Meizu M9 does not have a physical button on the sides for taking pictures which leaves the right side of the phone without push buttons. The Meizu M9 screen will appear with 3 icons on its lockscreen after turning on the phone. There is a “LOCK” icon in the middle which opens the Home screen, a "PHONE" icon on the left, and a "SMS" icon (for text messages) on the right. These icons can be activated by dragging them upwards.
Phone calls
After dragging the phone icon up to unlock the phone a dial pad will appear; this gives the user both the flexibility to dial and access contacts. After dialing one can choose to put the call on speaker, mute, hold, and record, check contacts list or end the call by pressing the orange box at the bottom. All this commands appear on the screen during the time of the phone call.
Text
To write a text message first press the “TYPE TO COMPOSE” button and the keyboard will appear. The main difference with Meizu M9 from most smartphones like iPhones is that the keyboard does not rotate to landscape mode when the phone is reoriented. Also it can easily switch from Chinese to English and vice versa simply by pushing the “EN” and “CH” buttons respectively.
Internet browsing
Upon pushing the “Home” button on the middle of the screen, the user is immediately connected to the default homepage of the Meizu web browser. The top left button on the screen allows the opening of more than one internet page at the same time. Also at the bottom of the page there are three icons: on the left is the “Refresh” icon on the middle “Bookmark” button and on the right is the “More Options” icon, which allows the user to download list, add to desktop, select text etc. The screen can scroll up, down, left, right and also zoom in and out with just the touch of the finger making it easier to read.
Criticism
Functionality
The Meizu M9 uses a 5MP front-illuminated
digital camera
A digital camera is a camera that captures photographs in digital memory. Most cameras produced today are digital, largely replacing those that capture images on photographic film. Digital cameras are now widely incorporated into mobile device ...
sensor which has poor low-light capability.
The sound quality is known to be quite cacophonic, especially when the volume is increased to its maximum. Critics have stated that the storage
ROM
Rom, or ROM may refer to:
Biomechanics and medicine
* Risk of mortality, a medical classification to estimate the likelihood of death for a patient
* Rupture of membranes, a term used during pregnancy to describe a rupture of the amniotic sac
* ...
for the phone isn't stable enough for full customer reliability.
Battery life
The battery life span of the Meizu M9 is comparable to that of most modern smartphones. When fully charged, it can last up to a day with normal usage, and it can last up to two days with minimal usage. There is speculation that the Android 2.3 update will improve the Meizu M9's battery life.
With the Android 2.3 beta firmware, battery life can last up to two days with normal usage and three days with minimal usage. These durations are expected to be higher for the final firmware version.
Marketability
Unless one is in China, getting access to the Meizu M9 can prove to be quite an arduous task. The best way to purchase one of these phones is to get it from an online seller; the downside to this is that a warranty is not available and the sellers may be unreliable.
The Meizu M9 was reported to have already hit its total sales target for 2011 in the first quarter. Consequently, the CEO Jack Wong refused to reduce the price of the phone. Its success could be as a result of low project target sales or unexpected popularity of the product. This phone is highly popular in China, and is starting to gain worldwide attention.
See also
*
Meizu
Meizu Technology Co., Ltd. () is a Chinese consumer electronics manufacturer based in Zhuhai, Guangdong. Founded in 2003 by Jack Wong, Meizu began as a manufacturer of MP3 players and later MP4 players. In 2008, Meizu moved its focus to smart ...
*
Meizu M8
The Meizu M8 is a Windows CE-based 3.4" smartphone. It is often regarded as having a Chinese iPhone-like design and similar to the features and UI: The M8 runs a version of Microsoft Windows CE 6 with a modified GUI, similar to that of the iPh ...
*
Meizu MX
The Meizu MX is a smartphone designed and produced by the Chinese manufacturer Meizu Technology, which runs on a modified Android operating system, dubbed as Flyme OS. It is the company's second Android-based smartphone, after the Meizu M9.
Th ...
*
Comparison of smartphones
This is a comparison of the various internal components and features of many smartphones.
Hardware and OS
2020s 2022
2021
2020
2010s
2019
2018
2017
2016
2015
2014
2013
2012
2011
2010
2000s
2009
...
*
Galaxy Nexus
The Galaxy Nexus (GT-I9250) is a touchscreen Android smartphone co-developed by Google and Samsung Electronics. It is the third smartphone in the Google Nexus series, a family of Android consumer devices built by an original equipment manufactu ...
Notes
References
"Meizu M9 English Review Part 1." YouTube. Web. 20 May 2011."How to Use Meizu M9 : Android 2.2, 3.5" Touch Screen, 1GHz CPU, GSM, WCDMA 3G, Smart Cell Phone,." YouTube. Web. 20 May 2011.ChinITech. Web. 21 May 2011.Thegadgetside. Web. 22 May 2011.The gadgetsite. Web. 20 May 2011.
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Android (operating system) devices
Meizu smartphones
Mobile phones introduced in 2011
Discontinued smartphones